Quilt Improv by Lucie Summers – a book review

I don’t like following patterns even though I sometimes do, to learn something new. I prefer to freestyle my projects. I also love inspiration as you might already know. I collect inspiration in just about any form, books included. So when I spotted the title Quilt Improv on Amazon I knew it would be a book I’d enjoy a lot. I bought it promptly, and I must say it’s a fab quilting book!

The subtitle of Lucie Summer’s book Quilt Improv is: Incredible Quilts from Everyday Inspirations. I love improvisation! I think it is what I enjoy most when I create: to have no finished plan!

Lucie Summers lives in a farmhouse surrounded by countryside in Suffolk, UK. And that’s where she finds her own everyday inspiration. Summer’s shows us how to take inspiration from simple objects to create 12 contemporary quilts. Or you can just dive into this book and “steal” inspiration from it. I love that you get to follow along in the process from inspiration photos to sketch and then see her interpretation of that inspiration as a finished very modern quilt. Her inspiration comes from what’s around her, from barn houses, windows, or pavement texture to the patterns of pretty shoe boxes on her shelf.

The book starts of with the basics of the building blocks, showing step by step how to piece and sew the blocks together. There’s instructions on how to sew many different blocks, like square piecing, basket weave, half-square triangles, chevrons, quarter circles and portholes. Plus of course the log cabin block (one of my favorites) and other fun ideas to try. This is my favorite part of the book, because all the blocks are easy to make, fun to look at and full of potential. You could make all of them to use in one quilt or pick a favorite. I want to try all of them, especially the circle ideas, of which there are several ways to try.

The bright modern colors and patterns of the fabrics makes me happy. Blocks that are sewn together and quilted to the wadding looks so comfortable and lovely. I adore that look, and to me few things feels to “at home” as a home made quilt on the bed or sofa. I really like this kind of sewing, the improv style. It remind me of Rayna Gillman’s awesome book Create your own free-form quilts, another favorite quilt book of mine.

I haven’t made many quilts in my life, but I think another one is starting to be born, in my mind at least. A very colorful one. The two so far are small quilts, one made from big squares (the Brown Quilt made from recycled fabrics) and the other from many many pink strips sewn together, it’s my favorite quilt.

Have you ever made a quilt? Or what books are inspiring your makings right now?

Hanna! Thank you kindly for this review! I am blessed with a generational heritage of handmade quilts and yet my freestyle mindset collided with the details of piecing together a quilt. My grandmother introduced me to “crazy quilting” — basically collage with fabric — and we started a quilt with fabrics from our varying stashes. It remains unfinished and she has since passed, but this inspires me to revisit my desire to carry on a family tradition.

Thank you for the review. I just orderd the book…. and can’t wait till it will be in my studio. About ten years ago I used to make contemporary quilts. Now I like to have a new start. Your new quilt look lovely with all the fabrics from the fabric swap.